


underneath the starry skies

by manbun_zukka



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (his hunch is correct), Angst, Coming Out, F/M, Fluff, Have I mentioned fluff?, James has a hunch, Lily realizing that James is no longer a douchebag, M/M, Remus Lupin Gives Him Said Hug, Secret Relationship, Sirius Black Needs a Hug, a wee bit of angst, fluffffffffff, rated for language, so much damn fluff, they're so damn cute, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24389677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manbun_zukka/pseuds/manbun_zukka
Summary: “I thought that Remus would trust me with something like this. Something big.”“This is bigger than big, though. This is like when Sirius came out to everyone, and he wasn’t even drunk. Or when Peter managed to get a girlfriend. It’s something that takes time and courage, especially when you want to talk about it.” James pronounced softly. “It’s not that they don’t want to talk to us about it, it’s that they need time. Or, at least, I think that’s what it is.”“That makes sense.” Lily agreed. “I have to say, James, you’re making a lot more sense to me these days.”----In which Remus and Sirius are in love, James and Lily figure their shit out, and Peter does not manage to woo Mary McDonald.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 138





	underneath the starry skies

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! I've been working on this for quite some time, at the same time that I was finishing my latest Scorbus fic, so it took a bit longer than anticipated to finish, but I'm really proud of the finished product! I really wanted to explore some James and Lily dynamics, seeing them slowly becoming friends, and then something more, but I also wanted to weave in a whole lot of Wolfstar, because everything I do has to be just a wee bit gay. I hope you like it!
> 
> xx,  
> CJ

Something was up.

James could tell.

It was that brotherly connection that he had with Sirius. He could always tell when something was up. And something  _ was _ up. But maybe not in a bad way. Sirius was different.  _ Good different _ , James thought. He was happier, lighter somehow. Smiling more, sleeping more, studying more. 

Even if James appreciated the change, he needed to know what was behind it. Maybe Sirius was on something?

(God James, haven’t you learned by now that Sirius is  _ always _ on something? (This is the seventies, people))

Maybe he met a bloke? Maybe he was actually more depressed than usual, and was hiding it?

Whatever it was, James was going to get to the bottom of it, but he was going to need help. And he knew only one person would be able to help him get the job done.

“Evans.”

“What do you want, Potter?” Lily looked up from her book, rolling her eyes. “I’ve told you once, I’ll tell you a thousand times, I’m  _ not _ going on a date with you.”

“No, it’s not about me.” James said, sitting down on the chair across from her. “It’s about Sirius. He’s been acting weird lately, and I need your help to figure out what’s behind it.”

Lily leaned forward, closing her book and lowering her voice. “Really?” she asked, “Because Remus has been acting weird too. You don’t think…?”

James’ eyes went wide, and he took in a sharp breath, before putting on what can only be described as a ‘thinky face’. “I don’t know. It makes sense though. All of the signs are pointing in the right direction.”

“Is Remus even gay?”

“I’m not sure, you know how secretive the man is.” James replied, leaning back in his seat. “Whatever it is though, we need to get to the bottom of it. Will you help me?”

“Will you stop asking me out?”

“Yes. I’ll make a truce on it.”

“Fine.” Lily sighed, reaching a hand toward James. He accepted the gesture, shaking it, before cracking his knuckles and pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill.

“Let’s start with what we know.”

-🌟-

It was quiet in the common room, all accept for the crackling of the fire. 

It was late, even for Sirius. Close to one in the morning, and he was alone down there, flipping mindlessly through the pages of a Muggle book that he had borrowed from Remus; something about a girl who found a spring in the woods that makes you live forever.

Sirius had stopped paying attention hours ago.

He’d gotten another letter today; one from his parents. He wished that he could just run away from it all, get on the train to go home, and then walk right past his parents and stay with James for the summer.

Maybe walk past his parents and stay with James forever.

But he couldn't leave Reg to face them alone, he was still young and nӓive, not covered in scars that he didn’t want anybody to see, and Sirius would be damned if it was his fault that Reg didn’t stay that way.

It was still nice, though, to imagine running off. Maybe if Uncle Alphred left him enough money to get a flat in the city, he could just live on his own, maybe flat-share with James, or have Remus move in. Get away from it all.

Sirius was trying his hardest not to nod off when he heard someone coming down the stairs. He turned slightly, wonder what other fucking maniac would be up at this hour. The person was still in the shadows, their face obscured, and Sirius though for a minute that it was James, or maybe Lily, but then, 

“Padfoot?”

“Remus?”

“Oh God, I’m glad it was you, imagine if it was like, some first year girl.” Remus breathed, sitting down next to Sirius and wrapping an arm around his waist. Sirius leaned into him, sighing.

“Another one?” Remus tentatively asked. Sirius only nodded, burying his face further into Remus’ chest. Remus felt a few silent tears leaking out of Sirius’ eyes, and held tightly onto him, rubbing soft circles into his back. 

“I want to leave,” Sirius sobbed quietly, the sound muffled from where his face was pressed into Remus’ chest. “But I can’t leave him behind, Rem. I would never forgive myself.”

“I know.” Remus soothed, “I know. It’s okay, I promise. It’s all gonna be okay. We’ll figure it out together, I promise.”

Sirius nodded once more, before settling deeper into the crook of Remus’ arm. Remus sighed, and pulled Tuck Everlasting out from under his half-conscious boyfriend, casting a tempus charm and cracking the book open.

-🌟-

“Evans.”

“Potter.”

“I have an idea.” James whispered.

“Spill.” Lily muttered back.

“Okay, so y’know how those two never sleep?” he started.

Lily nodded. “Sometimes, Remus and I will do our Prefect’s rounds, and then we’ll get back and I’ll be absolutely knackered, and he’ll just sit down in the common room and start doing his homework. It’s madness.”

“I know!” James sighed. “Sirius does the same thing. We’ll get back from evening practice, and I’ll fall asleep immediately, and he’ll just go down to the common room, and pull out a book.”

“Are you sure Sirius even knows what a book is?”

“Nope.” he replied, popping the p. “But anyway, we know that they’re down here, a1one,  _ together _ .”

“ _ Alone together _ .” Lily repeated under her breath. “My god, Potter, you’re a genius!”

“I feel like if I say thank you, you’ll hit me with a book.”

“That’s correct.” Lily affirmed, turning toward James. “We need to find a day, when you have evening practice, and we have evening rounds, we let them be alone in the common room, and then we sneak down and scout them out, without them knowing!”

“Perfect. How does next tuesday work for you?”

“It’s a date, Potter.”

-🌟-

It was a quiet night. Not a cloud in the night sky, no birds chirping, no leaves rustling in the wind, just silence. Remus liked it this way; it made the night seem peaceful. It took away the blood and the gore and the shadows and the secrets and everything else that the night brought with it, and left him with a deep blue sky full of stars, and the Scottish mountains off in the distance.

Nights like this always helped him forget.

Not that he could ever  _ really  _ forget. It was always there, in the back of his mind; the aches and the pains and the scars. It never went away. But on nights like this, the quiet and peaceful ones, it seemed to shrink; floating off in a breeze to the back of his mind.

Remus was sitting on the little window sill off of the dorm room, breathing in the clean night air. They had charmed the little railing up her years ago, him and Lily using their combined skills to make something sturdy enough to last for years.

He liked to sit out here, alone, and watch the stars and think about everything in his life that he  _ did  _ have. He tended to think so much about what he was missing, and what had been taken away from him, that he sometimes forgot about everything that he still had.

Like James, and Peter. His friends, who had promised never to desert him, who had given up countless hours to help him through transformations, who had kept mandrake leaves in their mouths for a godforsaken month for him. James, with his messy hair and glasses, always having everyone to stay for the Summer hols, when his mom would make them Chutney, and his dad would have them garden, and the Potter’s would make sure that everyone felt like family. Peter, who always went down to the kitchens to get them snacks late at night, who had taken to bringing Remus books from the Muggle bookshop near his house, and would always sneak him extra chocolate right before moons.

And Lily, who’d been his best friend from the first day they met, sitting next to each other at the feast and talking about all of their favorite books. How she’d been the one to figure it all out first, and how instead of saying anything she just pulled him into a hug and asked him what she could do. How she had given Snape a fair chance, but hadn’t been blind and nӓive when it came to him. How she would let him talk for hours on end, and just sit across from him and paint her nails.

And then there was Sirius.

Sirius, who had loved him from the start. Sirius who gave the best hugs. Sirius who kissed the breath out of him. Sirius, who would take Muggle books from Remus and read them late into the night. Who would wear his messy hair up in a bun, but always let Remus comb through it at night. Who had been the best friend to him; and then so much more. Sirius who he loved so much. 

“Remus?”

“Padfoot?”

Sirius climbed through the window, perching on the ledge next to Remus. “Couldn’t sleep.” he murmured.

“Me either.”

“It’s so quiet out. A perfect night to see the stars.” Sirius whispered, leaning into his boyfriend. “I wish I was better at astronomy. The only star I know is Sirius.”

“I know a few.” Remus said, pointing towards the sky. “That’s the Little Dipper. And that one over there, that’s Caseopia. The three to the left, that’s Orion’s Belt, and the far right few, that’s Cannis Major.”

“I always used to wonder how you could like astronomy so much, when everything revolved around the moon. But now, I can see it. On nights like this, when all you can pay attention to are the stars.”

“How could I ever pay attention to the moon, when I have the brightest star sitting right next to me?” Remus asked, wrapping an arm around Sirius’ waist.

“I love you, Moons.” Sirius whispered. “So much.”

“I love you too, Padfoot.”

  
  


-🌟-

“Potter, are you sure this is a good idea?” Lily whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

“Yes, Lily, what could go wrong?” James muttered back.

“Did you just call me Lily?”

“Yes, I’m sick of the last names thing.” 

“Ugh, fine.” Lily sighed, grabbing James’ arm and tugging him up the boy's staircase. “Listen,  _ James _ , we have rounds until nine, and your practice ends at 8:45. I will meet you right here, at 9:15, got it?”

“Affirmative. 9:15, right here.”

“See you then, James.”

“...Yeah.”

-🌟-

“See ya, Remus!”

“Night, Lils.”

-🌟-

“Are you gonna come upstairs and study with me and Peter, or are you gonna stay down here?”

“I think I’ll just stay here and read. Night, James.”

“Goodnight, Padfoot!”

-🌟-

  
“Lily.”

“James.”

“So what’s the plan? Should we just go over and pretend that we’re studying?” James asked.

“No, no, we need to be sneaky, almost invisible. So that they won't be able to see us. If they can, they won’t act like they’re alone.”

“I have something that could help with that.”

-🌟-

“You have an invisibility cloak?” Lily was incredulous. “And you didn’t tell me?!?”

“I mean, it didn’t come up. It’s not like I could’ve just walked up to you and said, ‘Hi Evans, I have an invisibility cloak!’” James said, throwing the cloak over both of their heads. “C’mon, we have a mission to accomplish.”

They headed awkwardly down the stairs, trying desperately not to make any physical contact with each other. As they entered the common room, their suspicions were proven correct.

Remus and Sirius were sat next to each other on the loveseat in front of the fireplace, Sirius with his head resting on Remus’ chest while Remus stroked gentle fingers through his hair. They appeared to be reading from the same book, and Muggle one that Lily recognized, and Remus was saying something softly into Sirius’ ear.

“This is really fucking sweet.” Lily whispered to James. “Like, sweeter than I expected.”

“I know,” James muttered back. “I expected them to either be angsting about something, or aggressively making out, but not this. This is too damn cute.”

“I guess Sirius  _ does  _ have a soft side.” she said. “Who knew?”

“Certainly not me.” James breathed. “Wait, hold on, I think Padfoot is saying something.”

-🌟-

“Are we ever gonna tell them?” Sirius whispered. Remus picked his head up from where it was resting on Sirius’ shoulder.

“Tell who what?” he asked softly.

“James, and Peter, and Lily. Tell them about us. You know I’m not good with secrets. And plus, it’s been  _ months _ , Remus. I hate having to hide it.” Sirius breathed. “I love you so much.”

“...Sirius. I love you too.” Remus whispered, leaning down to kiss him softly. “We’ll figure it out, okay? We’ll tell them soon, I promise. Although, I do think that James and Lily might have caught on. Lily keeps asking me about you.”

James cut his eyes at Lily from under the cloak.

“Really?” Sirius asked, “Because James kept asking me about  _ you _ .”

Lily raised her eyebrows at James.

“I’d bet you anything that Peter wouldn’t know that we were together, even if we literally had our tongues down each other’s throats.” Remus remarked, settling his chin back down on Sirius’ shoulder. “And I’ll bet you that Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice already have bets on us.”

“Really?”

“Oh, totally. Marlene and Dorcas are betting when we’ll come out, Marlene and Alice are betting about whether we’re a couple or not, and Alice and Dorcas are betting about who tops.”

“How do you manage to say this like it’s all fact?” Sirius asked tiredly. His eyelids were drooping, and Remus could tell that he’d stopped paying attention to the book.

“It’s a weird skill that I’ve acquired over the years.” Remus answered, smiling down at his half-asleep boyfriend.

“It’s cute.” Sirius yawned. 

“You’re cute.” Remus responded.

“Not as cute as you.” Sirius mumbled back, snuggling down further into Remus’ warmth. 

“I love you, Pads.”

“Love you too, Moons.”

Sirius was just about asleep now, eyes closed, breathing slow and shallow. Remus removed the book from his drooping hands, brushing a stray piece of hair off his face and kissing his forehead. He kept on reading, with his boyfriend sleeping against his chest, and his arms around him. 

-🌟-

James and Lily crept silently back up the staircase, stripping the cloak off once they had reached the landing. 

“That answered a  _ lot  _ of questions.” James breathed. “So. Many.”

“But I feel like there’s so much more that I want to know,” Lily sighed, slumping down next to him against the wall. “How long have they been together? What book were they reading? Who made the first move? How did I not know that Remus was gay?”

“I want to know everything. But mostly, I want to know why they didn’t tell us?” James wondered aloud. “Did they think that we would think it’s weird, or wrong? Did they think that we would, like, I dunno, be homophobic about it? It’s just making me wonder about what I maybe could’ve done to make them think that they have to hide.”

“Me too.” Lily murmured, slumping down on James’ shoulder. He let her stay there. “I thought that Remus would trust me with something like this. Something big.”

“This is bigger than big, though. This is like when Sirius came out to everyone, and he wasn’t even drunk. Or when Peter managed to get a girlfriend. It’s something that takes time and courage, especially when you want to talk about it.” James pronounced softly. “It’s not that they don’t want to talk to us about it, it’s that they need time. Or, at least, I think that’s what it is.”

“That makes sense.” Lily agreed. “I have to say, James, you’re making a lot more sense to me these days.”

“I’m glad.”

-🌟-

“Lily knows.”

“What? Padfoot, are you sure?”

“Yes.” Sirius sighed, flopping down on the couch next to Remus. “I mean, pretty sure.

“How can you be ‘pretty sure’?” Remus asked.

“Well, she found me after practice, put her wand to my throat, and said ‘If you hurt him, I will kill you’, and I’m pretty sure she wasn’t talking about James.” he said, sinking deeper into Remus’ warmth.

“Jesus.” Remus muttered, wrapping his arms around Sirius. “That does sound like Lily. Please tell me that when she and James eventually start dating you’ll do the same thing to her?”

“Of course,” Sirius scoffed. “I would’ve done that to her, even if she  _ hadn’t  _ done it to me.”

“Can you believe it’s almost been a year?” Remus whispered. “We should tell them soon.”

“But how? I mean, besides the fact that it’s basically an unconfirmed rumor throughout our friend group, nobody’s gonna see that coming.”

“I dunno,” Remus whispered, “but it has to be damn good.”

“Agreed.”

-🌟-

“Frankly, I am appalled by this behavior.” Peter moaned, in an over-dramatically aghast way. “Somehow, Remus and Sirius have been dating for months without me noticing, and James how the hell did you manage to get a date with Lily?! I’m doomed to be the fifth wheel forever!”

“Oh, c’mon Pete, it’s not that bad,” James tried, his voice carrying over from where he and Lily were studying for Arithmancy on his bed.

“It’s really not, Wormtail, I promise,” Sirius sighed. “You’ll eventually manage to woo Mary McDonald, and you’ll fall in love and leave us all behind. You probably won’t even make it to the wedding!”

“What wedding?” Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“James and Lily’s, of course!” Sirius said. “He’d never miss ours.”

“Jesus Christ, you two’ve been together for like, what, two weeks, and you’re already thinking about marriage!” Peter muttered.

“Ten months.” they corrected in unison.

“My  _ God _ .” Pete sighed, flopping gracefully down onto his bed. “Ridiculous. Ten mc-fucking months and I didn’t even notice. At least James and Lily picked up on it by the end. I’m a lost cause.”

“Alright people, stop your moaning,” Lily started, ever the organized one of the group. “We’re going to be late if we don’t start walking now.”

They packed up their stuff and headed for the entrance hall, all of them bundled up in layers upon layers, bracing themselves for the late-Scottish-winter chill. Lily grabbed onto James’ arm, and they walked together towards Hogsmeade, stripped scarves blowing in the wind.

Sirius had decided to forgo his usual leather jacket for an old sweater of Remus’ with a worn tan knit, and darker brown elbow patches. He held tightly to Remus’ hand, squeezing lightly.

“You sure about this?” Sirius whispered.

“One hundred percent,” Remus whispered back, leaning down to press a kiss to Sirius’ forehead. 

“And so it begins,” Peter groaned from behind them.

“Shut it, Pete!” They yelled back together.

-🌟-

It had been close to an hour by the time they finally reached Three Broomsticks, and everyone’s cheeks were pink with cold. The four of them squeezed into a booth towards the back (Peter had decided to go for a Zonkos run), and started peeling off their layers, warming their hands on mugs of butterbeer and hot chocolate.

Sirius was leaning up against Remus, who had his arms around his shoulders, and James and Lily were holding hands above the table, smiling uncontrollably at each other.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Peter bust in right now and called us all ‘disgustingly couple-y’” Remus deadpanned.

Everyone else laughed, and Sirius smiled, that soft, private smile of his, and Remus couldn’t help but smile with him, because they were here, and they were happy, and this is how it was meant to be. The four of them, happy like this, together. And Peter of course.

“I love you, Moons,” Sirius whispered.

“I love you too, Padfoot.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies! I hope you enjoyed this fic, and if you did, pleasepleaseplease leave a comment and kudos, they always make me day!
> 
> Have a wonderful day!  
> xx,  
> CJ


End file.
